Big question

The UK government is agonising over the crucial decision of whether or not to start vaccinating cattle against foot and mouth disease. A decision is expected on Monday.

So far, the government has resisted using vaccines, preferring to tackle the epidemic through slaughter alone. But pressure to make a decision one way or the other is mounting.

There are almost 800 cases in the UK, with 500,000 animals already slaughtered. But 300,000 still await slaughter and infected animals on "death row" continue exhaling and spreading the virus.

Vaccinating animals would buy time by preventing further spread of the virus until slaughter teams reach the condemned livestock. But it would also compromise the future of meat exports.

The Netherlands and Argentina are already using vaccines to fight domestic outbreaks. Argentinian vets have vaccinated 14 million animals in an epidemic which has already seen 132 cases.

"Firewall vaccination"

The government has already announced measures to bring an earlier end to the misery. It set a target of slaughtering newly infected animals within 24 hours of diagnosis, instead of the days it had been taking to kill infected animals.

It also decided that to stop the virus in its tracks, vets would have to kill all animals within three kilometres of a newly stricken farm. But in Cumbria, slaughter teams are struggling to keep pace with new outbreaks.

Nick Brown, the agriculture minister, has already ruled out mass vaccination. But he has said that vaccines might be used on a limited scale in places like Cumbria.

Vets would administer them simply to dampen down zones of high infectivity like Cumbria. The other possible use is as a temporary "firewall" to contain the virus in condemned animals until slaughter teams arrive.

Farmer's warning

To pave the way for vaccination, the British government applied for and received permission this week from the European authorities to vaccinate 180,000 cattle.

Most British farmers oppose vaccination because they fear it would jeopardise a reopening of their export markets. Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers Union, warned prime minister Tony Blair against using vaccination.

"I've continued to stress that the views and feelings of local farmers are absolutely critical in this," says Gill. "It is they who will have to live with the results of any further action, including any limited use of vaccination."

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